Chain.



No. 745,361. PATENTED DEC}.- 1, 1903. G. W. LEVALLEY. I

CHAIN. Arrmmhnon FILED Rev. .6. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

NITED STATES Patented December i, 1903 PATENT OFFICE.

CHAIN.

srnornroa'rron formin part of Letters Patent Ne. 745,361, dated December 1, 1903.

Application filed Novemb'erfi, 1902. Serial No. 130,175. (No modeL') To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER W. Ln- VALLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chains, of

which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to chains employed for power-transmitting purposes; and it has for its object to produce a chain or a chain belt of this character which shall be rigid in one direction substantially transverse to the axes of articulation of the separate links, so that when the chain is running in a horizontal direction it shall not sag.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated three forms of my improvement.

Referring to such drawings,- Figure l is a side elevation of a short section of chain provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side View of a short portion of a chain embodying another form of my improvements. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the construction illustrated in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side view of a section of chain embodying a third form of my improvements.

I have illustrated my invention in connection with a sprocket or drive chain, separate links of which are united by detachable or separable pintles or cross-bars a. Each link represented in the drawings consists of two side bars I) b and a connecting cross-bar c of preferably tubular form. The free ends of the side bars I) are perforated, as represented at d, and these perforations are adapted to register with the apertures through the end bars when the links are arranged in position to be coupled or united by the pintles a, which pass through the aforesaid registering apertures.

The links of the chain may be provided with projections e e, which are used for conveying purposes. These projections are shown merely to illustrate the fact that my invention may be applied to chains of difierent constructions, and they may be entirely omitted or other projections used in their stead. Likewise the form of chain, so far as its link construction is concerned, may be different from that shown without changing the nature of my invention.

ff represent flanges formed at the free ends of the side bars I), and g 9' represent keepers or lugs projecting outward from the side bars near their rear ends. When the parts of the chain are in working position, the flangesflie behind or inside of the keepers, between them and the side bars, the keepers or lugs thus serving to prevent any lateral spreading or separation of the free ends of the side bars. 7

7t designates a projection at the end of one of the side bars arranged to bear upon the upper face of one of the lugs 9 when the chain is stretched out with the links substantially in line with each other. The engagement of the projections g and h, carried, respectively, by the adjacent links, operates. to prevent the links from sagging or flexing in a downward direction.

In Figs. 3 and 4 there'is represented a form of my invention which for some purposes I prefer. As is here represented, the stop 9 with which the projection it engages is provided with a flange t, arranged to form a sort of pocket or recess in which the projection h rests when in engagement with the stop.

As has been already pointed out, the lugs g perform a double function-first, in com-' bination with the flangesfas keepers to prevent a spreading of the free ends of the side bars, and, second, in combination with the projections h as one of the elements of a rulejointconstruction at each articulation of the chain.

In Fig. 5 I have represented another form of my invention in which the lugs h operate only as members of the rule-joint. Thisform of the invention differs from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 only in that the free ends of the side bars are not arranged to pass behind or inside of the lugs g, which therefore do not act as keepers. v

The invention which I have described is particularly adapted for use in connection with a drive-chain the links of which are of substantially U shape, as in this case the side bar and will be arranged between the joints, uniting the side bars with adjacent links.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1, In a chain, the combination of the side bars perforated for the passage of connecting pintles, the free ends of the side bars extending beyond the perforations for the pintles, keepers carried by the side bars and arranged to be engaged by the free ends of the side bars to prevent the latter from spreading, and projections carried by the free ends of the side bars of the links arranged to engage With the upper sides of the said keepers to hold the links rigidly in line with each other, substantially as set forth.

2. In a chain the combination of the side bars, pivot-joints by which the side bars are united, the side bars having free ends that extend beyond the pivot-joints, keepers carried by the side bars and arranged between the pivot-joints in position to be engaged by the free ends of the side bars and to prevent such ends of the side bars from spreading, and projections carried by the free ends of the side bars arranged to engage with the keepers to hold the side bars rigidly in line with each other, the said keepers and projections that engage therewith being arranged substantially in the same horizontal planes as the side bars, substantially as set forth.

3. In a chain, the combination of the side bars of the links, meansfor uniting the links, laterally-extending lugs carried by the side bars, flanges forming pockets or recesses adjacent to the lugs and projections carried by the ends of the side bars arranged to be seated in the said pockets or recesses when the links are in line with each other, substantially as set forth.

CHRISTOPHER W. LEVALLEY.

\Vitnesses:

VLASTA I. KLOFANDA, JOSEPH Loon. 

